Dancing on stage in knee-high boots, PVC underwear and posing provocatively with a riding crop, Paula Southin, a transgender activist, performs an erotic routine using the stage name Violette Hue in a lewd online video.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Southin, who was born a man, is also a former Girl Guide leader and member of a key committee tasked with helping shape the future of the 116-year-old movement. 

Astonishingly, the 58-year-old amateur burlesque performer was one of at least four trans activists who were asked by Girlguiding – previously The Girl Guides Association – to explore opportunities for trans girls and trans women to be ‘supported’ by the organisation.

Girlguiding was widely praised when it announced it would restrict membership to biological girls and young women following last April’s Supreme Court ruling that sex in equality law refers to biological sex. But an investigation by The Mail on Sunday has uncovered claims by whistleblowers that, despite the ruling, the organisation’s leaders remain under the sway of the trans rights movement.

This newspaper can reveal how:

• Southin was handed the crucial advisory role despite lambasting Girlguiding’s ban on transgender girls, saying that it ‘sickens me to the core’;
• Gemma Benton, Girlguiding’s ‘head of girl experience’, posted a picture on Facebook of a dog with a label which read ‘I bite terfs’ – a derogatory reference to feminists with traditional views about biological sex;
• An activist group called Guiders Against Trans Exclusion (Gate) is trying to overturn the trans ban;
• Insiders claim that staff at Girlguiding’s London headquarters who dispute trans rights dogma feel unable to speak openly for fear of harming their careers. 

Transgender activist Paula Southin (pictured), a former Girl Guide leader and member of a key committee tasked with helping shape the future of the 116-year-old movement

The Girl Guides float taking part in Birmingham Pride in 2022. Girlguiding was widely praised when it announced it would restrict membership to biological girls and young women following last April’s Supreme Court ruling that sex in equality law refers to biological sex

Girlguiding was plunged into turmoil by the landmark legal ruling that the terms ‘man’ and ‘woman’ relate to biological sex and that women-only spaces should be protected.

In response, the Guides announced in December that membership would be ‘restricted to girls and young women’, which it described as a ‘difficult decision’. All remaining trans people must leave the organisation by September.

Insiders say the move has split the organisation, with powerful voices expressing pro-trans views behind the scenes and activists campaigning to overturn the ban.

Girlguiding itself launched a consultation last year involving around 500 people to explore how it can help trans girls and trans women, while insisting it was not attempting to reverse the ban.

The consultation was overseen by a panel of 16, including burlesque performer Southin, which met seven times between January and March. It discussed ideas for connecting with trans people, including ‘how possible, lawful, and inclusive these ideas would be’.

But bizarre performances plus lewd pictures, comments and videos posted online has raised questions over whether Southin is appropriate for the role – although there is no suggestion the activist is guilty of any wrongdoing.

One post featured an image of two children’s teddy bears in bondage gear, while others showed Southin in a red basque and suspenders, a pink PVC dress and making jokes about male genitals.

In one video posted on Instagram in 2024, Southin – a self-described ‘steam punk’ performer – provocatively licks a riding crop and twirls it to the rhythm of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love.

Girlguiding’s ‘head of girl experience’, Gemma Benton, once posted a picture on Facebook of a dog with a label reading ‘I bite terfs’ – a slur against ‘trans-exclusionary’ radical feminists who hold traditional views about biological sex. The picture has since been removed

Southin announced on the LinkedIn site last autumn that they’d been accepted as a Guide leader after publicly documenting their gender transition over a number of years. They resigned from the role after Girlguiding’s decision to stop accepting new boys or trans girls into the organisation.

On Instagram, Southin wrote of ’empowering’ girls through education and activities such as sewing and baking, but continued: ‘With great sadness, I could no longer continue volunteering… their policy change to exclude trans girls and young women sickens me to the core.

‘I have tried to argue that the Supreme Court ruling does not specifically ban trans people from single-sex spaces and GG [Girlguiding] has not shown proportionate means to achieve a legitimate aim. I have raised numerous issues, contradictions and legal concerns… but everything has been ignored. Girlguiding has not had a single report of any safeguarding issues with trans people.’

Helen Joyce, of sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, said: ‘Any honest consideration of whether Paula Southin is fit to be in a position of authority within Girlguiding, given these provocative materials, has to start from the fact Southin is male, not female.

‘Those responsible for girls’ safety must not be hampered by political correctness: they need to be clear-eyed about male sexuality, including male paraphilias such as erotic cross-dressing.’

Details of Southin’s role on the panel come as whistleblowers describe an atmosphere of intimidation from pro-trans colleagues at Girlguiding’s London headquarters, which is just round the corner from Buckingham Palace.

One ex-employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said she realised shortly after joining that ‘gender-critical’ views – the belief that there are two biological sexes and that sex cannot be changed – were ‘simply not welcome’.

She said Girlguiding’s ‘head of girl experience’, Gemma Benton, believed that boys and men who identify as female should remain within the organisation, despite the Supreme Court ruling.

Benton once posted a picture on Facebook of a dog with a label reading ‘I bite terfs’ – a slur against ‘trans-exclusionary’ radical feminists who hold traditional views about biological sex. The picture has since been removed.

The whistleblower said she felt unable to express her views at work. ‘I just didn’t feel psychologically safe in that environment,’ she said. ‘I had never experienced any organisation like it before.’

She recalls a junior manager effectively telling staff unhappy with the organisation’s approach to trans inclusion: ‘You’ve all got to get on board or get out.’

‘No one challenged it,’ the former employee said. A second whistleblower, who still works for Girlguiding said: ‘It is essentially taken as a given within Girlguiding that trans women are women, so any discussion of biological reality is avoided. You simply wouldn’t test the water, as there would be no coming back from it.’

The Guides are yet to issue a report after its consultation about supporting trans girls and women. But some suggestions from those taking part have been published on its website.

They include ‘exploring how we might hold events, run activities, or campaign’ with trans people; making ‘changes to the way Girlguiding is run’; and exploring how to set up trans-friendly spaces or groups linked to the movement.

It comes as parents are taking legal action against Girlguiding’s decision to allow existing trans members and volunteers to remain until September, arguing that allowing biological males to attend camp raised safeguarding concerns and exposed Girlguiding to legal risk.

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan, an outspoken critic of trans-rights campaigners, said the continuing involvement of men in the Guiding movement is a ‘safeguarding nightmare’.

‘I’m making no criticism of specific individuals, but the Guides have created an organisation for small children and managed to turn it into a honeypot for paedophiles. The Girl Guides have got to regain their sense of what is normal – and appropriate – for children.’

Meanwhile, some Guide units have switched to the Scouts in an attempt to evade the ban, while others have discussed setting up alternative groups with organisations including the Pride network.

Concerns have persisted about Gate, which has organised protests, lobbied politicians and promoted unofficial pro-trans campaign materials for use in Guide units. Members have discussed strategies for putting pressure on Girlguiding’s leaders.

Last month, Gate launched a range of T-shirts and hoodies carrying slogans including ‘All girls to the front!’ using colours associated with trans pride activism.

A Girlguiding spokesman said last night: ‘The recent changes to our policy were driven by the Supreme Court ruling. Throughout this process we have taken extensive, independent, professional advice so we could act with confidence and authority.

‘The safeguarding and safety of our members is, and always will be, our first priority. The task force explored opportunities for trans girls and trans women to connect with and be supported by Girlguiding, while continuing to operate within our equality and diversity policy, and the law. It wasn’t seeking to reverse the decision but instead offered a safe space to share ideas. Conversations have now finished and the ideas are now being considered.

‘We will not comment on individuals or draw them into this issue. ‘

The whistleblower who still works there suggested that the leadership feels trapped. ‘I think it would be very difficult not to adopt a trans-inclusive position, because that is what many young people have been taught,’ she said.

‘Increasingly, girls are identifying as non-binary or trans, and organisations feel under pressure to reflect that.’